Emily Wakeman Hartley

Emily I. Wakeman was born in New York, the daughter of Thaddeus B. Wakeman and Emily Ludlam Wakeman. Her father was a lawyer and writer interested in philosophy. Her mother was a clubwoman, active in working for women's suffrage.[https://books.google.com/books?id=D4MmAQAAIAAJ&dq=Emily+Wakeman+Hartley&pg=PA69 "Mrs. Emily L. Wakeman"] Humanitarian Review (February 1905): 69. Emily Wakeman attended Friends Seminary and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.Harry Prescott Hanaford, Dixie Hines, eds., [https://books.google.com/books?id=tpafAAAAMAAJ&dq=Emily+Wakeman+Hartley+born&pg=PA311 Who's who in Music and Drama] (H. P. Hanaford 1914): 311.

Emily Wakeman was an actress as a young woman, usually playing comic or character roles, including Broadway appearances in Caleb West (1900), Lover's Lane (1901), Marta of the Lowlands (1903), A Case of Frenzied Finance (1905), The Firm of Cunningham (1905), The House of Mirth (1906),Kevin Lane Dearinger, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GhKvDAAAQBAJ&dq=Emily+Wakeman+Hartley&pg=PA547 Clyde Fitch and the American Theatre: An Olive in the Cocktail] (Rowman & Littlefield 2016): 547. {{ISBN|9781611479485}} The Three Daughters of Monsieur Dupont (1910), and The Runaway (1911).[https://books.google.com/books?id=6txNAQAAMAAJ&dq=Emily+Wakeman+Hartley&pg=RA17-PA4 "Matinee Girl"] New York Dramatic Mirror (May 7, 1910): 4.

Emily Wakeman Hartley was the founder, fundraiser, and manager of the Stamford Theatre,[https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/497403991/F79AF5A1D4DB44B9PQ/4 "Making More Money"] Boston Daily Globe (July 11, 1923): 17. which opened in 1914.A. P., [https://books.google.com/books?id=5-AxAQAAMAAJ&dq=Emily+Wakeman+Hartley&pg=PA113 "A Woman Who Financed and Built a Theatre"] The Theatre (September 1914): 113-114, 131-132. It became a popular venue for touring performers and for new shows, before they debuted in New York.Wynne Parry, [http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/PLAYBACK-DAY-2-Act-1-VAUDEVILLE-AND-BEYOND-1288798.php "Playback Day 2: Act 1 Vaudeville and Beyond"] Stamford Advocate (March 24, 2011).Nina S. Purdy, "She Induced her Town to Build a 'First Night' Theatre" American Magazine (May 1926): 74. She also lectured on creativity, saying "One of the great faults of the present generation is that too few make use of their gray matter; I mean that they do not seem to realize that they have something within themselves, and do not need to depend wholly upon outside matters for amusement. And a person who always has to be amused or entertained cannot be happy, for he hasn't the creative spirit."[https://books.google.com/books?id=n9MeAQAAIAAJ&dq=Emily+Wakeman+Hartley&pg=PA177 "Something Within Themselves"] The Guide to Nature (April 1921): 177-178.

Emily Wakeman Hartley ran unsuccessfully for the Connecticut state senate in 1922.[https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/101577935/F79AF5A1D4DB44B9PQ/1 "Emily W. Hartley, Actress, Dies at 62"] New York Times (February 22, 1935): 21. She retired from managing the theatre in 1927.[https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/104074024/F79AF5A1D4DB44B9PQ/2 "Mrs. Emily W. Hartley to Retire"] New York Times (October 22, 1927): 8.

In 1902, Emily Wakeman married Randolph Hartley, a librettist, publicist, and opera critic; his grandfather was poet and editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold.[http://www.thepoeblog.org/rufus-griswold-archive-arrives-at-the-poe-museum/ "Rufus Griswold Archive Arrives at the Poe Museum"] The Poe Blog (July 6, 2016). They had a son, Randolph Wakeman Hartley (born in 1909, when Emily was 37 years old). They lived in Cos Cob, Connecticut. Emily Wakeman Hartley was widowed in 1931[https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/99434076/F79AF5A1D4DB44B9PQ/5 "In Memory of Randolph Hartley"] New York Times (April 20, 1931): 16. and died in 1935, from a heart attack, aged 62 years.

In 1987, an Emily Wakeman Hartley Theater Series began in Stamford, named in her memory.Alvin Klein, [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/27/nyregion/theater-for-audiences-o-neill-and-celebrations.html?pagewanted=all "Theatre: For Audiences, O'Neill, and Celebrations"] New York Times (September 27, 1987).

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• [http://collections.mcny.org/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=24UAYWLUE1MWT Two photographs of Emily Wakeman Hartley tending a garden], from the Museum of the City of New York.
• [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/emily-wakeman-63734 Emily Wakeman's listing on IBDB.]

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Category:1872 births

Category:1935 deaths

Category:People from Cos Cob, Connecticut

Category:Actresses from Stamford, Connecticut

Category:Friends Seminary alumni

Category:American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni

Category:Clubwomen